


I like you a latte

by ThunderstormsandMemories



Series: persona rarepair week 2020 [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, First Kiss, Human Morgana (Persona Series), M/M, Valentine's Day, if they had a ygo style ship name it would be simpshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27720113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThunderstormsandMemories/pseuds/ThunderstormsandMemories
Summary: in which Morgana is left alone to work at Leblanc on Valentine's Day, and Mishima wants a hot drink and some companyOR,single catboy in search of a relationship reflects on identity and lonelinesswritten for Persona Rarepair Week 2020 (Day 2: coffee shop AU)
Relationships: Mishima Yuuki/Morgana
Series: persona rarepair week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026348
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	I like you a latte

**Author's Note:**

> With apologies to my past and present barista roommates. I don't know anything about making lattes or latte art but please pretend Morgana does.

Having a job was a strange concept for Morgana. He knew about jobs, having accompanied Akira to many of them over the past year, but generally no one had expected him to actually do anything. If Akira’s boss knew he was there, which they didn’t always, depending on the job and how many food safety laws applied to it, they mostly wanted him to nap in Akira’s backpack and not cause any trouble, which he was happy to do. Napping was one of his favorite activities. So maybe being cat-shaped did have its advantages, and not having to directly engage in capitalism was one of them. Now, when he was left at home alone because it was Valentine’s Day so Akira was on a date, and Sojiro was on a date, and even Futaba, who hated being the only person behind the counter but would usually at least keep him company, was on a date, he had to _work._ Making _coffee_ . Like a _human_.

Cats didn’t have to make coffee, and couldn’t drink it anyway. And Morgana was not a cat and never had been, but he’d still never managed to acquire the taste. He could make most of the basic drinks though, after watching Akira go through the motions so many times, and he knew his way around the stove well enough to be able to heat up the curry that Akira had made that morning, just in case anyone came in looking for a meal, which was apparently enough for Sojiro to trust him to watch Leblanc by himself. Not that hungry customers had been an issue so far. It was almost closing time and the only people Morgana had seen all day were two stressed university students looking for a quick hit of caffeine and a lost tourist looking for directions to their hotel on the other side of the city. Anyone looking for a date spot would’ve picked out somewhere more prestigious, more fancy, more _romantic_. Morgana loved living at Leblanc but it wasn’t really the best atmosphere for romance.

He’d gotten tired of watching the news by around noon and switched over to playing video games on an old handheld console that he’d gotten as a hand-me-down from Futaba. It was much easier than it used to be, now that he had opposable thumbs, and he was just about to start the final boss battle when the bell on the door jingled. He sighed and paused the game, trying to remind himself of what a customer service smile was supposed to look like. That was another nice thing about being cat-shaped: no one ever expected him to be polite.

“Hey, Kurusu- oh, sorry,” said the customer. When Morgana deigned to look up from his console he recognized him as one of Akira’s confidants, the shy kid who did all that social media stuff. Akira had hung out with him a bunch, but Morgana had mostly slept through those occasions, partially because it was exhausting to listen to Mishima awkwardly try to flirt with Akira while Akira was either oblivious or politely pretending not to notice so he didn’t have to turn him down. “I thought you were him.”

“I’m just filling in for the day,” Morgana said. “I’m his roommate, I think we’ve met before?” They’d definitely met while Morgana was cat-shaped, and whatever strange cognitive shift in reality was keeping him human-shaped usually made it so that people who’d met him as a cat would remember that he was someone they knew, even if they couldn’t quite place how they’d met.

“Yeah, I remember now,” said Mishima. He was looking around the cafe now, like he was expecting someone else to be there, as if he didn’t know that Leblanc was always empty this time of day, even when it wasn’t a holiday. “Do you know if anyone else is going to be here today? You know, any of the,” he lowered his voice and leaned closer to Morgana over the counter, “ _Phantom Thieves._ ”

“They’re all on dates,” Morgana said, only a little bit sourly. He was happy that his friends were happy, of course, and he wasn’t really jealous of any of them specifically. So it wasn’t that he wished any of them had asked him to be their valentine, it was just that he knew none of them would ever consider it even for a moment because they all still saw him as a cat. And his situation was too weird for him to have friends outside of the Phantom Thieves, with anyone who could meet him now and only ever know him as a normal human teenager instead of a magical talking cat or the manifestation of human hope. He loved his friends, and he knew they cared about him enough to believe him back into existence, which was more than a metaphorical construct could ever hope for, and he’d mostly accepted that he wasn’t quite like them, but sometimes he still felt like the odd one out. There were just so many experiences he’d never had, the childhood memories he would never make, the petty trials of human adolescence that he’d never gone through. And now he had a chance to make up for some of that, and he was missing out because he didn’t have any of the background knowledge to be able to do any of it properly.

“Oh,” said Mishima sadly. If he had a tail, Morgana thought, it would be drooping in disappointment. “Whatever. I guess it was a stupid idea anyway, of course they all have dates, they’re all so cool and popular.” He started turning away to leave. He hadn’t even taken his hat and gloves off, and his cheeks were still rosy from the cold, and Morgana felt bad for him. After all, Morgana was lonely today too. Maybe they’d be less lonely together.

“You could stay here?” Morgana said, and Mishima turned back to him, startled.

“Really?” he said softly, eyes wide with hope, and _wow_ , Morgana really felt bad for him, if he was so shocked by the bare minimum of grudging kindness from a friend of a friend.

“Yeah,” said Morgana. “Here, Akira made a bunch of curry before he went out, you can have some on the house.” Sojiro said he wasn’t supposed to give away too much for free, but Akira always made complimentary drinks for the other Phantom Thieves when they stopped by, and even Sojiro, for all his gruffness, never made Yusuke pay for anything. So Morgana figured no one would be too mad about this.

“Thanks,” said Mishima. “That’s really nice of you. No wonder you’re Kurusu’s friend, you’re just as generous as he is.”

Morgana snorted. “No one is as generous as he is. That’s his problem.” The rice had gone cold a long time ago, but he heated the curry back up while Mishima took off his coat and made himself comfortable at one of the counter seats. “Coffee?”

“Sure!” Mishima said, and Morgana got to work making that for him too. He tried to draw a heart in the foam on top, but it ended up looking more like a lopsided :3 face. Maybe that was for the best. Maybe the last thing Mishima wanted was to be reminded that he was single on a holiday for couples.

Morgana set the bowl and cup in front of Mishima, flipped the sign on the door to ‘closed’ since no one else was going to come in anyway but just in case he didn’t want to be dealing with customers while he was trying to have an emotional conversation, and then pulled up a stool behind the counter so he could sit across from him. As Mishima ate, he had to keep reminding himself not to steal food off his plate with his bare hands. Another advantage of being cat-shaped was not having to worry about table manners.

“You know,” said Mishima, between the bites of curry he was shoveling into his mouth, “it’s kind of silly, actually. I’m not sure what I expected by coming here, it’s not like I even really have a crush on any of them anymore. I mean, Takamaki is beautiful,” Morgana nodded emphatically, “and Futaba and I have so much in common, and I would definitely say yes if Kurusu asked me out, but who wouldn’t?” Morgana, who had reluctantly witnessed most of Akira’s friends hitting on him at least once, had to concede that point. “But I think it’s more that I just want to date _someone_ , you know? Just to prove that people like me enough that I can. It feels like all of my friends are in relationships and I’ve never even kissed someone.” He pouted, taking a sip of his latte that left a line of foam on his upper lip.

“Me neither,” said Morgana mournfully. To be fair, he’d only had a human mouth for a month and a half, and as far as he could tell none of his friends were particularly interested in kissing him. Not that he’d had much time to try to bring up the subject, between all of the Phantom Thieving and studying they had to do. At least he didn’t have to go to school. Yet. Futaba kept threatening to make him start at Shujin next year when she did.

“Really?” said Mishima, and his surprise was very flattering. “I never would’ve thought… I mean, you’re so…” Handsome? Suave? Impressive? If Morgana still had his cat body, he would be purring, but he settled for straightening up a little more and puffing his chest out. “Cool,” Mishima said dreamily, and Morgana was slightly disappointed by his lack of imagination in his choice of adjective, but he still accepted the compliment with grace and only a little bit of smugness.

“Yeah, well,” Morgana said, shrugging as though it didn’t bother him. “Maybe I’m too cool for all of that.”

“Oh,” Mishima said, staring sadly down into his mug. “I wish that was me.”

“It’s not really me either,” Morgana said. It was strangely freeing, to be able to unburden himself like this, to someone who shared at least some of his insecurities. His friends would listen, had listened in the past when he needed someone to talk to, but there was something different about talking to someone who didn’t expect him to be who they thought he was. “I like to act that confident but deep down I’m not.” Mishima was staring at him solemnly, like he was speaking words of wisdom, and Morgana wondered if this was how Akira felt, when his friends came to him for advice and clung to his every word like a lifeline. “Anyway, sorry for bringing down the mood,” he said, laughing awkwardly, as if the mood hadn’t already been down before Mishima had even walked in. “If you’re so worried about never being kissed, why don’t you change that?”

“I’ve been trying,” said Mishima, “but no one ever seems interested in me. And if you’re talking such a big game, why haven’t you been doing any kissing yourself?”

“Hmph,” said Morgana, crossing his arms and lifting his chin. “Maybe I will.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mishima said, and Morgana was reminded for a moment of Ryuji, of all of their dumb arguments and challenges and dares.

“Yeah,” Morgana. “Just watch me.”

“Go on then,” Mishima said. “Who are planning on kissing? There’s no one here.” He spread his arms, gesturing around the empty cafe.

“You’re here,” said Morgana. “And that would solve both of our problems.”

“Oh,” said Mishima, blushing furiously. “Yeah, you’re right.” He was staring up at Morgana, eyes wide, and then he licked his lips nervously and said, “Well? What are you waiting for?”

Morgana reached across the counter and pulled Mishima up by his collar, crushing their lips together. He knew the theory of it, having accidentally witnessed an unfortunate number of Akira’s makeout sessions with Ryuji, and Akechi, and less frequently but just as memorably, Yusuke, but it was different in practice. It was wetter, for one thing, and he was glad that human tongues were less abrasive than cat tongues, otherwise both of their mouths would be horribly scraped up within moments. At one point their teeth clacked together and Morgana winced, but Mishima was gripping Morgana’s shoulders so tightly that Morgana was glad he didn’t have claws and making soft noises against Morgana’s mouth, and he seemed to be enjoying himself so Morgana didn’t pull back until he realized that he needed to breathe.

“Oh,” Mishima said again. “That was fun. Right?”

“Yeah,” Morgana said. “That was pretty nice. Want to do it again?”

“Sure,” Mishima said, kissing him again. Eventually they realized it would be easier to reach each other if they weren’t on opposite sides of the counter, and also they would be in less danger of knocking over any delicate coffee-making instruments, and they ended up huddled together in one of the booths, figuring out how to fit their mouths together more comfortably.

“So,” Morgana said, “are you going to want to keep doing this?”

“Yeah, why not?” said Mishima. “Do you mean right now, or in general…” He had one hand holding one of Morgana’s but with the other he was picking nervously at a stray thread on the cushion. “Because I was thinking,” he said quickly, before Morgana had a chance to answer, “that we could maybe go on a date or something sometime?”

“Sounds good,” said Morgana, though privately he was hoping Mishima would pick the place, since his knowledge of date activities was fairly limited. Ryuji generally took Akira to the ramen shop, which wasn’t terribly exciting, though Morgana did enjoy ramen, and Yusuke took him to art galleries and whatever strange location he thought might inspire his muse, which didn’t seem like Mishima’s sort of thing. And darts and billiards and whatever other weird nonsense Akechi and Akira got up to when they were together was even less useful as a guide.

“What do you like doing?” Mishima said, dashing Morgana’s hopes.

“I like sushi,” said Morgana, because it was the first thing that came to mind.

“Okay,” Mishima said. “There’s a pretty good place near where I live, and also it’s also right by a park, so we could maybe get food and then go for a walk? Or the other way around? If that sounds good to you?”

“That sounds great,” said Morgana, rubbing his thumb over Mishima’s encouragingly. “I look forward to it.”

“Great!” Mishima said. “I’ll send you the address and then we can figure out a time.” He hesitated, worrying at his lip with his teeth. “In the meantime, I wouldn’t mind continuing what we were doing.”

“Me neither,” said Morgana, leaning in to kiss him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Zan for providing the title, and also for coining the word simpshipping, hope you enjoy what you caused to exist in this world <3
> 
> Come find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/selkie_au_lover)


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